What We Really Want For Our Kids
A few days ago, I sat in the midst of my family, surrounded by a love I couldn’t even dream of all those years ago when four little ones took every ounce of me, every day.
We watched together, as God lit the sky with lightening, oohing and ahhing, clapping our hands and giving our souls over to awe-filled worship of the One who holds such power in His hands.
The storm kept us enthralled for hours, moving slowly from the mountain peaks, over the high dessert valley, finally disappearing into the eastern plains— while our conversation turned back to the Creator over and over. I watched the wonder in the eyes of my Grands, their eyes wide, hearts open, leaning into the arms of their dad, knowing they were safe, but still a little frightened by the ferocity of the storm.
This One we worship is BIG!
The next morning I got up early, opening my Bible to Psalm 91. My heart caught as I burrowed into God’s words:
“When you sit enthroned under the shadow of the Shaddai,
you are hidden in the strength of God Most High.
He’s the hope that holds me and the Stronghold to shelter me,
the only God for me, and my great confidence. ”
This is what we want for our children!
We want them each, in their own unique way, to find their confidence, their hope, their strength in the God Most High.
More than academic success, more than finding their place of importance in this world, more even than someday finding love and starting their own families…
We want our children to delight in God.
Why? Psalm 91 goes on to describe the life of a delighter-in-God:
“…because you have delighted in Me as My great lover…”
Then follows a list of God’s “I will’s” and “you will’s” to those who delight in Him.
Not those who do for Him. Not those who get-it-right-all-the-time, or spout bible verses better than anyone else.
These gifts from God are for those rare and treasured few who actually, really, continually delight in God, loving Him before all else.
· I will greatly protect you (v14)
· I will set you in a high place, safe and secure before My face (v14)
· I will answer your cry for help every time you pray (v15)
· You will find and feel My presence even in your time of pressure and trouble (v15)
· I will be your glorious hero and give you a feast (v15)
· You will be satisfied with a full life and with all that I do for you (v16)
· You will enjoy the fullness of my salvation! (v16)
All this simply when we delight in God.
I wish I’d known this in my early years of following Jesus. Even more, I wish I’d grasped this in my children’s early years of spiritual development.
But I didn’t.
I only knew I was supposed to do certain things and not do other things.
My to-do’s included:
· Daily devotions
· Prayer cards for everyday of the week
· Witness to unbelievers
· Go to church every Sunday to study the Bible verse-by-verse
· Serve my family
· Serve in the church
All good things! Yet my soul dried up in this duty-bound approach to God. And worse, I see now how that kind of perfunctory plodding after God would have been difficult, if not impossible, to pass on to my children.
So what changed?
I fell madly, passionately, joyously in love with Jesus.
And that is what we want for our kids. A full-on lover of Jesus delights in Him. A passionate Jesus follower is bursting with the joy of God, always wanting more.
Think about that over the next few days.
Are you there yet? Because, honestly, I don’t think your kids will become delighters in God unless you do.
If your walk with God— like mine once did — feels like a dry, do-what-you-should sort of faith… Or maybe even a not-all-that-interested, caught-up-in-other-stuff, apathetic faith… please stay with me.
Jesus offers more.
I’ll tell more of my story of learning to delight in God next week, and some ways to help your soul into that space. Then Phil and I will talk about how to bring our children into their own place of falling— and staying— madly, passionately, and joyously in love with Jesus.
I think you’ll be surprised by some of his (very-different-than-mine) insights.
From my heart,
Diane